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Donor Stories: Legacy gifts to Braille Institute
Ordinary people are showing extraordinary generosity by making donations and leaving legacy gifts to Braille Institute. These stories show that kindness is evident in people from all walks of life.
The one constant since our founding has been that the impact we have on the lives of blind and visually impaired men, women, children and their families is not possible without our generous donors.
Each one of these stories represents the very best humanity has to offer. Because of each donor’s enduring love of life and concern for others, their memories will never be extinguished, and their gifts will remind us all that we, too, can make a difference in the lives of children and adults served by Braille Institute for years to come.
Read stories of hope and inspiration about those served by Braille Institute.
It All Started With One Couple’s Gift to Braille Institute
Small Town Girl With a Big Heart
Not Your Average Donors
'You Get What You Give'
Keen Instincts
Making a Difference in So Many Ways
In the Service of Others
A Man With a Big Heart
It All Started With One Couple’s Gift to Braille Institute
“I mean this, Mr. Atkinson. If you will undertake it, Mr. Longyear and I are prepared to contribute $5,000 a year for five years, toward the establishment and operation of a braille printing plant such as I’ve mentioned...”
Mrs. John M. Longyear
January, 1919
When a Montana cowboy, J. Robert “Bob” Atkinson was blinded by a gunshot wound, he discovered a sparse and expensive supply of braille reading materials. Experiencing frustration and a lack of resources, he was determined to eliminate the shortage of braille literature. By securing a grant from East Coast philanthropists, John and Mary Longyear, their collaborative efforts helped to establish the Universal Braille Press in 1919, which became incorporated as Braille Institute of America, Inc. in 1929.
Since 1919, we have grown from a small braille press (developed in Atkinson’s home garage) to five regional centers serving tens of thousands of blind and visually impaired adults and children each year. And in the more than eight decades that Braille Institute has served the community, we have expanded our programs and services to include a nationally recognized free library, free low vision rehabilitation services and classes, free early childhood education programs, free youth and career programs, free community outreach programs and, of course, our press department that provides free braille publications to young readers. Only now we call it Universal Media Services.
But one thing hasn’t changed. We still rely on the support of individuals, not the government, to help us provide our programs and services.
It all began with that first gift from John and Mary Longyear. It will continue for many years to come through the continued generosity of people like you.
Small-Town Girl with a Big Heart
No one would have guessed that Pearl Rogers would end up living in Hemet, California, and playing a key role as a supporter of Braille Institute—not even Pearl Rogers. Born in a rural corner of Missouri in 1904, her childhood consisted of hardships and daily chores, not California dreams and the rarefied longevity of a centenarian.
But determination has always been a part of Pearl’s makeup. Soon after high school graduation, that determination led her to Kansas City in search of employment. She enjoyed life in the city until a sense of adventure led her and a close friend west to Los Angeles in 1930. She loved it, finding work as a secretary. A promotion soon followed, which meant a transfer to San Francisco.
Immersed in her new life, Pearl met her husband JC Rogers. The pair spent several happy years together until JC died suddenly of a heart attack at 57. The loss might have paralyzed some, but not Pearl. Never one to feel sorry for herself, she moved back to Los Angeles where she kept herself busy by maintaining her full-time job and where she began her unselfish devotion to volunteerism. In the decades following her husband’s death Pearl spent many happy hours helping people with disabilities. Pearl’s happiest memories: “My time with friends and helping others.”
By chance, Pearl came across a classified ad in the newspaper for a driver and personal aide to a blind man. The man happened to be former radio actor James Garfield. Pearl accepted the gig, and the two became fast friends. It was through Garfield that Pearl Rogers found Braille Institute.
Pearl’s work with Garfield introduced her to other blind people, some of whom she also volunteered to drive around and assist. Meanwhile, Pearl continued her professional career, always striving to be the best in all of her endeavors. Having taught herself accounting, she eventually became the head bookkeeper for a plumbing and heating company in Los Angeles, a position she held for two decades.
In the last 20 years of her life, she also turned her attention to generous giving—including Charitable Gift Annuities and the ultimate legacy, an intended bequest of her entire estate to support the works of her favorite charities. Pearl retired to Hemet in 1990, but she stayed quite active. She remained a vital part of Braille Institute, as both a donor and a vibrant example of the organization’s legacy of volunteerism and selflessness until her death in 2008 at the age of 103.
Not Your Average Donors
By most criteria, Rick and Dot Nelson seemed like your average donors—successful professionals with the income and the conscience to make a difference. “You get to a certain age and you realize you don’t need more stuff,” Rick confessed. What was not average, however, was the macular degeneration that struck Rick in his early 40s.
That was more than 20 years ago, Rick recalls, tracing how he came to find Braille Institute and how one low-vision specialist there helped to restore the quality of his life. Since then, giving back to Braille Institute has become the Nelsons’ passion—commitment to helping others that makes Rick and Dot Nelson anything but average.
Dot and Rick met in Houston in the ‘70s when Rick, a civil engineer, was working on the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline. Always adventurous, the couple moved to Alaska to follow the pipeline project and then a year later returned to the “lower 48”—driving most of the way in their old Toyota Corolla. Rick joined another engineering firm in California, but within a short time he and Dot felt the lure of adventure calling and Rick accepted his firm’s offer to work in Iran for a year.
A few years later, while drawing on graph paper, Rick noticed that the lines on the paper were wavy, not straight. But poor quality graph paper was not the problem, it was his vision. At age 41 Rick was diagnosed with macular degeneration. Rick had many laser treatments to slow the loss of his central vision. He continued to work, but with difficulty, as his field of vision was pushed to the periphery.
With encouragement from Dot, Rick came to Braille Institute’s Orange County Center where a Visual Aids Consultant gave Rick the tools and confidence he needed to continue with his life and career. With the help of a closed-circuit television linked to his computer, he was able to continue working for the same firm that helped him transition from working in remote field sites to working with engineering-related computer programs.
Now, Rick and Dot each have a home office, and both work with an engineering-specific software program called gINT. Rick is a consultant providing technical support to gINT users; and Dot has her own business, dot.dat.inc., where she works with companies across the United States, compiling their geological soil data and producing reports.
Dot and Rick have no children and have chosen to adopt Braille Institute by donating regularly to such programs as the National Braille Challenge™ through their support of our capital campaigns, through several Deferred Charitable Gift Annuities, by including us in their estate plans and, recently, with Rick being elected to the Braille Institute Board of Directors. They have an interest in the children’s programs, for as difficult as adult-onset blindness has been for Rick, “I had a sighted childhood these kids will never have,” he said. “Braille Institute has touched our lives and our hearts, and we know its dedicated staff does that for countless others every day,” Dot added.
'You Get What You Give'
It was 2002. Huguette Ashley had already led a colorful life that had brought her from Egypt to the shores of the United States and included careers working as a translator for the United Nations and a French teacher in California. She was in her golden years and seemed to have it all. But the eternally optimistic Huguette found herself lost and depressed when her husband passed away.
Determined to move forward with her life, Huguette decided to look into volunteering. As luck would have it, a neighbor who was a student at Braille Institute suggested Huguette come down to the San Diego Center and have a look. The rest, as they say, is history.
Creatively inclined, Huguette was drawn to the art classes from the start. “I was in awe,” she admitted, remembering her first day at the center. “I couldn’t believe people who were blind were making such beautiful things.” Within a week, Huguette was volunteering right alongside them. “Seeing it firsthand—the ways the students were able to adapt, and the amazing pieces they created—it instantly lifted my spirits.”
Over the next few years she even taught classes of her own—including classical music and jazz appreciation. Despite all of the time and energy Huguette has given to Braille Institute, this year she decided to go one step further and take out a Charitable Gift Annuity. “I’ve always wanted to help visually impaired people in any way I could. I get great satisfaction knowing that I’m improving the quality of someone else’s life. I really do believe, in this world, you get what you give.”
Huguette is one of nearly 200 philanthropists who currently have Charitable Gift Annuities with Braille Institute. And all of them have the satisfaction of knowing their generosity will help thousands of blind and visually impaired people in the future. If you would like to receive a high, fixed, guaranteed rate of return for your lifetime by investing in Braille Institute’s future—or even give a Charitable Gift Annuity to a loved one—please call us today at 1-800-272-4553, Ext. 1256, to request more information or a free, no-obligation proposal.
Keen Instincts
Some might say Ray Barnum had the deck stacked against him from the start. Growing up blind in Kansas, his early years weren’t easy. But when he moved to California as a young man, Ray knew a fresh start was there for the taking and that with hard work, great things were indeed possible.
He found work where he could at first, cleaning trays in the commissary at a Lockheed aircraft factory. Ray learned the inner workings of the service industry and bided his time until a better opportunity came around.
In the late 1950s, that chance presented itself through the State of California and its Rehabilitation for Blind Vendors Program. Through the program, blind entrepreneurs like Ray were able to open their own vending businesses in government facilities without paying rent or utilities. Ironically, Braille Institute founder J. Robert Atkinson was a leader in the passage of this legislation, a fact Ray wouldn’t learn until years later.
Ray took the opportunity and ran with it, opening a cafeteria at the Torrance Court House. Through his knowledge of the service industry and commitment to hard work, Ray created a highly profitable business and developed cost analysis spreadsheets that were adopted by scores of businesses statewide. Within a few years he had purchased his first house and had acquired an impressive stock portfolio.
Over the next three decades, Ray would purchase three more rental properties and watch as his stocks increased in value exponentially. But Ray’s business acumen and hard work were never motivated by financial gain. His plan all along was to give back to those who could truly use it.
A longtime patron of Braille Institute’s Library, Ray has experienced the joy of talking books firsthand. “I’m particularly excited about the upcoming switch to digital technology,” he said with a smile. “The entirety of Braille Institute’s programs has impressed me so much.”
Ray wants to make sure these programs are still available to blind and visually impaired people in the future. To help ensure this, Ray decided to make a significant bequest to Braille Institute. “This is the legacy I want to leave,” Ray said. “It lets me know all of my hard work was worth it.”
Making a Difference in So Many Ways
Growing up during the Depression in a single-parent household, California native Rosalyn Heyman learned early on what it was like to struggle. Yet through that struggle she developed a work ethic that would lead her to the highest levels of scholarship, and an optimism that has inspired a lifetime of generosity.
As a young woman, Rosalyn put herself through UCLA, paying her tuition by working part-time as a skater and movie extra in Hollywood films. She continued her education, earning a Master’s at UCLA and graduating Phi Beta Kappa.
Entering the workforce, Rosalyn knew exactly what she wanted to do… She wanted to shape young minds as a public school teacher. She was a natural educator and within a decade an opportunity to become a junior high school principal presented itself—the only problem was, Rosalyn lacked the requisite administrative credential. Never one to back down from a challenge, Rosalyn earned her credential in a single summer by going to USC, UCLA and Cal State Northridge concurrently, and placing first in the statewide administrative test.
That September, Rosalyn became the principal of Berendo Junior High School, turning the school around academically and installing an on-campus computer lab, the first of its kind in the nation. Her tenure was an unequivocal success and in 1982 an even bigger opportunity presented itself when Rosalyn was offered the position of Assistant Superintendent of the entire Los Angeles Unified School District. She accepted and held the position for eight successful years.
Yet, what should have been a glorious time in Rosalyn’s life wasn’t without challenges. “My mother had always had minor eye problems,” Rosalyn remembered, “but around that time, her vision went downhill very suddenly. It was difficult for both of us.”
Making a Difference in So Many Ways
Fortunately, Rosalyn found Braille Institute, and introduced her mother to its Library Services and the world of books on tape. “My mother had been an avid reader her entire life,” Rosalyn said. “The recordings brought her great joy.”
In the Service of Others
If one trait, one single word, defines Esther Schuster, it is generosity. The daughter of Russian parents who immigrated to West Virginia in the early 1900s, Esther has lived her entire life in accordance with the strong moral principles they instilled in her as a child. She describes her achievements, all of the gifts she has bestowed on others in her 87 years, as a tribute to her parents. And they would be very proud.
As a young woman Esther dreamed of becoming a librarian in a big city. So she followed her brothers to Los Angeles where she spent more than four decades enriching children’s lives as a librarian at Bancroft Middle School.
Upon her retirement Esther embarked on a robust life of volunteerism. Over the past 20 years she has volunteered as a teacher’s aide, taught English as a second language to Russian immigrants and read stories to children at the local public library.
After she began losing her vision to macular degeneration Esther took a tour of Braille Institute, later took advantage of a free low-vision consultation and most recently attended a free seminar on macular degeneration. She was so impressed with all the services and programs that Braille Institute made available for free that she sought a way to give something back.
True to her selfless nature, when Esther found out that a Braille Institute Charitable Gift Annuity would not only help Braille Institute, but that she could direct the income from her annuity to someone other than herself, she took out two — one for each of her nieces. “I feel Braille Institute is a wonderful organization that will spend my money well,” Esther said. “And I am able to provide a generous gift to my nieces and receive a nice tax break in the process. I couldn’t ask for more,” she added with a smile. And neither could her parents.
A Man With a Big Heart
Los Angeles native Bob Williams’ roots run deep in the city. He can trace his family lineage in the metropolis back to the dusty days of 1869. In an ironic twist of geography and fate, Bob Williams briefly attended Los Angeles City College, whose campus is located less than 100 yards from Braille Institute’s L.A. Sight Center. Yet as an 18-year-old in 1940, Bob had no idea that six decades later he would be playing a large part in helping blind and visually impaired people as an inspired volunteer and donor.
The early 1940s ushered in international turmoil and a world war. Bob was up to the call, enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps. the forerunner of today’s Air Force. During the war his 9th Air Force Unit provided crucial air support for General Patton, saving countless American lives on the ground. After serving his country, Bob continued his education at USC. He turned his studies to civil engineering, convinced L.A. was going to rapidly expand. And he was right.
Bob embarked on a civil engineering career with the city of Los Angeles in 1948, a labor of love that lasted 35 years. His other passion continued to be the great dance bands, inspired by the music he had enjoyed at venues all over Los Angeles as a young man.
Bob started donating to Braille Institute in the mid-1980s. “I always had compassion for people with vision loss,” Bob remarked. After retiring, he became more and more involved, generously naming Braille Institute in his living trust two years ago. Last fall, Bob created a Braille Institute Charitable Gift Annuity as well.
Recently Bob decided to bring his love of music to Braille Institute, volunteering to teach a class on the greats of the Big Band era. And he learned a few things, too. “I look forward to the class as much as they do. The more time I spend with my students, the more I am struck by their optimism and great outlook,” he said with a warm smile.
And for that, Braille Institute salutes Bob Williams!
Related links:
Donate Now Online, By Phone or By Mail – Your gift now will bring hope to thousands in Southern California and across the nation.
A Bequest for Braille Institute – Leaving a bequest through your will or trust is easy.
Charitable Gift Annuities – A Charitable Gift Annuity will pay you lifetime income in return for a donation to Braille Institute.
Milton Stark
"I'm leaving money to Braille Institute because I volunteered there and I know the good work they do."
